Russell Crowe in tweet urges Pope Francis to watch 'Noah'

There are myriad ways to promote a film these days, most notably through trailers, billboards, media junkets and talk-show appearances.

Now "Noah" star Russell Crowe is trying to reach a higher power, beseeching Pope Francis on Twitter to watch his upcoming biblical adventure, which is based on the Noah's Ark story from the Book of Genesis.

Crowe followed up with a tweet aimed at his own 1.37 million followers, writing, "given his environmental focus/scholarly knowledge, trying to screen #Noah for Pope Francis." Crowe also asked his followers to retweet his previous message.

Francis, who boasts 3.7 million Twitter followers (@Pontifex) and more importantly is the spiritual leader of the 1.1 billion Roman Catholics around the world, has not directly responded to Crowe's tweets.

The pope's approval would certainly be a huge coup for "Noah," which was directed by Darren Aronofsky and opens March 28. So far the film has generated controversy among religious audiences wary of it potentially straying too far from the biblical account. (Paramount recently challenged a survey and a subsequent Variety story about the faith-based community's skepticism of the film.)

Crowe's one-man outreach campaign could be for naught: As the Hollywood Reporter noted, a Vatican spokesman asked about "Philomena" recently said the pope does not watch films. However, that statement contradicted a story last year in which Francis told an interviewer he enjoyed classic Italian films, and even took recommendations for two new ones.

If that's the case, Crowe definitely has a third recommendation lined up for him.